Thoughts, comments and observations about the Chicago White Sox from the Communications Department.

City Showdown

Monday, June 2o, 2011

Cubs vs. White Sox

It’s that time of the year again as the White Sox and Cubs square off in the first of two intra-city series this month. It seems that the first series always sneaks up on everyone, so here we are!

This morning, for fun, I checked out the boxscores from the very first time these two teams met in regular season contests … 1997. I found just one player from those rosters still active … Mike Cameron. And of course, Ozzie Guillen (2-11 in the series) and Harold Baines (0-7) were playing for the White Sox at the time.

Those 1997 White Sox dropped the first game ever, 8-3, before coming back to win the next two, 6-3 and 3-0 (behind Wilson Alvarez).

The White Sox own a 41-37 edge all-time in regular season play and have won seven of the last nine and 11 of the last 15. For all kinds of White Sox vs. Cubs info … read on.

2011 STORYLINES

Since interleague play began in 1997, the White Sox lead the all-time series, 41-37, and have outscored the Cubs, 382-358 … the Sox are 23-16 at home and 18-21 at Wrigley Field.

The Sox have won seven of the last nine games and 11 of 15 after the Cubs had won six in a row and nine of the previous 10 dating back to 2006.

The White Sox won four of the six games in 2010 (two wins at U.S. Cellular Field and two at Wrigley Field) … Jake Peavy (7.0 IP), Sergio Santo and Tony Pena (1.0 IP each) combined for a three-hitter on 6/25 as the Sox shutout the Cubs, 6-0 … the Sox fell to the Cubs on 6/13, 1-0, after Gavin Floyd and Ted Lilly each took no-hitters into the seventh inning.

The Sox won four of the six meetings in 2009, including the final three (6/27-28/09 at U.S. Cellular Field and 9/3/09 at Wrigley Field) … recorded the first back-to-back shutouts in series history on 6/28/09 at home and 9/3/09 at Wrigley Field.

WINS AND LOSSES

The Sox have won 11 of the last 15 games and are 11-4-1 in the last 16 series. The Sox are 7-3-4 in season series, with their only losses coming in 1998 (0-3 at Wrigley Field), 2004 (2-4) and 2007 (1-5) … the Sox best records have come when they were 4-2 in 2010, 2009, 2006, 2003, 2001 and 1999.

The Sox have won 10 of the 13 series at U.S. Cellular Field, with the only losses coming in 1999, 2005 and 2007… the Sox are 7-6-1 in the 14 series at Wrigley Field (their victory on 9/3/09 is considered a series win).

Each club has recorded three-game sweeps at Wrigley Field, with the Cubs accomplishing the feat in 1998, 2004 and 2008, and the Sox in 1999 … each team has recorded one sweep at U.S. Cellular Field: the Cubs in 2007 and the Sox in 2008 … the Sox have been in position to sweep the Cubs at home seven times but have won only one of the finales.

The Sox five-game winning streak from 6/27/09-6/12/10 is their longest in the series … the Cubs sixgame winning streak from 2007-08 was the longest by either team.

The Sox posted a four-game winning streak at home from 6/27/09-6/26/10, their longest in the series … they have recorded three, three-game winning streaks at Wrigley Field, most recently on 9/3/09-6/12/10 … the Cubs own three, three-game winning streaks at Wrigley Field, most recently on 6/20-22/08, and posted a series-best, four-game winning streak at U.S. Cellular Field spanning 2006-07.

STATISTICS

The Sox are hitting .259 (677-2,615) with 110 home runs and 382 runs scored (4.9 per game) alltime … they own a 4.24 ERA (324 ER/688.0 IP) … the Sox have outscored the Cubs, 382-358.

At U.S. Cellular Field, the Sox are hitting .250 (319-1,275) with a 3.65 ERA (145 ER/358.0 IP) and have outscored the Cubs, 186-160 … they have scored 10-plus runs three times, a 10-3 win on 6/27/08, a 13-9 win on 6/28/02 and 12-2 on 6/24/05.

At Wrigley Field, the White Sox are hitting .267 (358-1,340) with a 4.88 ERA (179 ER/330.0 IP) and have been outscored by a 198-196 margin … they scored 10-plus runs in back-to-back games on 6/16/02 (10) and 6/20/03 (12).

Sox starters own a 4.24 ERA (111 ER/235.2 IP) all-time at U.S. Cellular Field and a 4.69 mark (118ER/226.2 IP) at Wrigley Field.

Paul Konerko is hitting .309 (51-165) with 14 home runs and 37 RBI in his last 45 games … his 16 home runs lead the Sox, and three of his 29 career multihomer games have come vs. the Cubs

Alexei Ramirez is hitting .313 (21-67) with four homers and nine RBI in 17 career games and Gordon Beckham is batting .359 (14-39) with five RBI in 12 career games (has a hit in 11 of the 12 contests).

Carlos Lee hit a pair of grand slams, including a game-ending shot on 6/8/01.

Mark Buehrle (5-4) is the Sox all-time wins leader, while Freddy Garcia (3-0) and Jon Garland (3-4) are the only other Sox pitchers with more than two victories in the crosstown series … Garcia is 3-0 with a 0.93 ERA (3 ER/29.0 IP) in three starts.

CLOSE CALLS

Forty-four of the 78 games (56.4 percent) have been decided by three runs or less (Sox are 22-21) … the breakdown:

􀂉The Sox are 11-12 in one-run games overall and 9-4 at U.S. Cellular Field … they have won eight of the 11 games between the teams decided by two runs, going 6-1 at Wrigley Field and 2-2 at home.

􀂉The Sox are 3-7 in three-run games, losing the most recent decision on 6/24/07 at home.

􀂄In addition, five of the games have gone into extra innings, with the Sox winning three:

Date Site Result Inn.

6/5/98 Wrigley: Cubs 6, Sox 5, 12

6/9/00 Wrigley: Sox 6, Cubs 5, 14

7/7/00 Wrigley: Sox 4, Cubs 2, 12

6/8/01 Comiskey: Sox 7, Cubs 3, 10

6/9/01 Comiskey Cubs 4, Sox 3, 10

FANTASTIC FINISHES

17 of the 78 games have been decided in the final at-bat, most recently the Sox 3-2 win on 6/26/10 (Paul Konerko’s eighth-inning homer off Andrew Cashner) … seven of the Sox nine last at-bat wins have come at home … the Sox six walk-off wins vs. the Cubs:

July 9, 1999: Carlos Lee hits a sacrifice fly off Terry Adams with one out in the ninth inning, scoring Ray Durham to give the Sox a 3-2 win at home.

June 9, 2000: Ray Durham’s single off Daniel Garibay with one out in the 14th inning scores Herbert Perry in the 6-5 Sox win … Sammy Sosa forces extra innings with a two-out, two-run homer off Keith Foulke in the ninth inning.

June 8, 2001: Lee hits a grand slam off Courtney Duncan with two outs in the 10th inning, leading the Sox to a 7-3 win … it was the first-ever walkoff grand slam in interleague history.

June 27, 2003: Jose Valentin hits a solo home run off Antonio Alfonseca with one out in the ninth to give the Sox a 4-3 win … Valentin’s dramatics are set up when the Cubs scored twice in the top of the ninth to tie the game, 3-3.

June 27, 2009: Gordon Beckham doubles off Jose Ascanio in the ninth inning for his first game-ending hit as the Sox defeated the Cubs, 8-7.

THE COMEBACK

The White Sox recorded the biggest comeback in the series on 6/28/02 at home when they rallied from an 8-0 deficit to defeat the Cubs, 13-9 … the Cubs built an 8-0 lead after three innings … the Sox began their comeback with one in the fourth and three more in the fifth, including Paul Konerko’s two-run homer off Kerry Wood, to close to within 8-4 … they added six more runs in the sixth, capped by Konerko’s second home run, a two-run shot off Joe Borowski to give the Sox a 10-8 lead … the Sox put the game away with three runs in the eighth … it was the Sox largest comeback in a victory since 6/13/78 vs. Cleveland when they rallied from a 9-0, third-inning hole for a 10-9 win.

RANDOM NUMBERS

The White Sox have scored 10-plus runs on eight occasions (all since 2002) and have recorded 10 or more hits 31 times (two times in 2010) … the Sox highs in the series are 13 runs on 6/28/02 at home and 18 hits on 6/12/99 at Wrigley Field.

The White Sox have hit .250 or below in nine of the 14 season series, including seven of the last 10 … their best average was a .315 mark in 2009, while the lowest was .218 in 2007.

The Sox hit five solo home runs in a 6-5 loss at home on 6/11/00, tied for most by either team in the series (also Cubs on 7/2/06 at Wrigley).

Wilson Alvarez threw the Sox only complete-game shutout in a 3-0 Sox win on 6/18/97 at Comiskey Park … Mark Buehrle threw a complete-game, two-hitter on 5/19/06, while Terry Mulholland, Jon Lieber (twice) and Mark Prior have gone the distance for the Cubs.

There has been one rainout (6/16/09 at Wrigley Field) and a pair of rain-shortened contests, both at Wrigley Field … the Sox won, 5-3, in six innings on 6/11/99 … the game was called following a delay of 2:33 … the Cubs won, 4-2, on 7/3/04 in a game that was delayed three times for 3:02 before finally being called.

ROSTER FACTS

A total of 155 players in major-league history have played for both the White Sox and Cubs … two current Sox players, outfielder Juan Pierre and pitcher Will Ohman, have played on both the North and South Side … Sox television analyst Steve Stone and radio analyst Darrin Jackson also played for the Sox and Cubs.

It better not jk! I was just given my employers’ tickets for tonights game in – eeeekk – the Scout Seats! ohmygodohmygodohmygod, ican’tbelieveit, what time can I leave? ohmygod ohmygod! Thanks be to good owners! Oh my gosh, I am never going to make it till 5 PM so I can get out of here! Eeeek, I am dying of excitment! Now, if we can just get a W tonight, I will be extra happy! GO GAVIN! GO WHITE SOX!

100 miles south and I can’t watch it on TV, MLB or anything else you can think of (blackout rules). I am the employer not the employee so I don’t have tickets to give to myself. Have a great time Marie.

Oh Marie, I am SO jealous!! So are you saying that it pays to have a job? Lol. You better enjoy those seats and bring our boys the luck for a win! Oh wait… we’re playing the Cubs… we don’t need luck, we just need to play the game. ;-)

Well, Gavin hung three pitches and Castro hit two of them hard and Pena nailed one. That and leaving a few runners on early spelled defeat for the Sox tonight. Need to bounce back and get one tomorrow.

That’s a shame. Great start, then nothing……. Minus two, minus five, minus three, minus four: this dance step has got to change. We simply MUST put together a modest run to get back to 500. Come on Mark and go Sox’11…..j.k.

Yahoo! Sox win! I watched the WGN feed on TV instead of watching on the computer. I guess I’m jaded or a creature of habit, but I thought Len and Bob were terrible! Guess I’m used to the Hawk and Wimpy or DJ or Stoney. Man, were the Cubs announcers DRY. Kinda like here in the desert. Best thing is that we won the game. Mark again pitched well enough to get the W. And thank you Brent Morel for getting the runner home from third base!!!!!!!!!!! Margin of victory. Now it’s all up to Jake and the Boys tomorrow…… Go Sox’11…..j.k.

Kasper is a helluva nice guy but is, as you said, the DRYEST play-by-play guy I have ever heard. Brenly does a great job but can’t make up for Kasper putting you to sleep.

I know Hawk has his detractors but I still enjoy his telecasts. Of course, I’m a Sox fan so when he’s happy, I’m happy.

Morel came though. And so did Paulie for the fifth straight game. A win tomorrow gives us — according to a buddy of mine who cited this number — 17 straight Interleague Series wins. That would be impressive.

Been watching the games on Sportschannel but the bush league announcers are from WGN, what’s up with that? I have no idea who these rubes are but you’d think being that Chicago is a major market the cubs would’ve hired a good announcer after that bumbling fool Santo died. Bring back Hawk!

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